A Soul in Soul Society
by InFieryPeace
Summary: Momo died. By Aizen's blade. So why is she wandering Soul Society? Not that anyone can see her. HitsuHina.
1. Prologue

I am here.

I am waiting, healing, forgotten.

I am trying, hoping, finding, wishing.

I am unheard.

* * *

I open my eyes,

To find myself being carried off,

When I am right here.

I was strong, capable, and respected.

And now mourned.

Why?

* * *

If I wander amoung them,

I find it ironic.

I am a soul amoung souls,

Different.

I cannot be seen, felt, or heard,

And he cannot sense me.

That is much harder.

* * *

The light has not come,

Why am I still here?

Am I truly gone,

Just an apparition of what was.

Or am I here,

Simply different

Like night and day?

* * *

Myself, here or not,

Gravitates towards a place,

a person, unthinkingly.

Will I come back to him,

Ease myself and him from his obvious suffering?

He tries to hide it, but I see.

It hurts.


	2. 1: Discovery Unwinding

Continuing on her not-so merry way, former vice-captain of the 5th squad, Hinamori Momo, looks up. This would not have been so odd of an occurrence had she not died exactly one week ago, with the end of the Winter War.

She had died by the blade of her former captain, Aizen Sosuke, a currently hunted deserter of Soul Society.

Momo's funeral had already been held. After all, she was one of, miraculously, only two deaths for their side. The other had been that of Kurosaki Ichigo, a high level substitute shinigami, who had died in the same way.

For some reason, though, she is not gone to the next world. She is still in Soul Society, wearing her shihakushou & lieutenants armband. Even has her zanpakutou, Tobiume. Not a single living being knows that she is here, though. No one can even _sense _her presence! It is cutting her to the core, because of the loneliness. Do you know how it feels to watch all your friends (and love) mourn you, and you can't comfort them? No. You don't. Momo does. And she hates it.

Not one to be held back, even if she was feeling incredibly sad, Momo already did someone experimenting. Through her observations, that Nemu would be proud of, she thought, Momo had come to determine about two things. No one could see her, which she already knew, so moving on, she was able to affect inanimate objects, but no 'living' person would see said object any differently.

Forlorn mental rambling done, a bit of a shocked look crossed over Momo's face as she looked up. She was right in front of the the division she had just made the actual conscious decision to come here, as had happened a lot recently. Apparently her feet beat her to it though. So, on a childish urge so much like her old self, she stuck her tongue out at them.

'Why not? No one can see me'. Which for the first, and maybe last time, seemed like a good thing.

The 10th division office loomed in front of her. Not the first time she had found herself here, but she never went farther than this. Without stopping to wonder why, she opened the door. Of course, the inhabitant didn't notice, so when Momo poked her head in, nothing happened. Except Momo almost fell off her feet. What caused this event to happen? An earth-shattering one. Instead of the usual snowy head poking out from behind mountains of paperwork, it was a certain strawberry orange one. An occurrence that, well, most people have never seen. Not even when she was still 'alive'. It definitely warranted investigation. Momo stepped inside the door, determined. If she knew her childhood friend- and her busty one- at all, she knew that this would not happen if everything was alright.

It took her a couple minutes of searching, but finally she found what she was looking for. Shiro-chan, in her head, or Captain Hitsugaya Toshiro, (a child prodigy of the sort that comes aloung only once in a couple centuries). He was a little bit younger than her. And still just a little bit shorter. But most importantly her clichéd childhood-friend-turned-secret-love. And consequently the hardest person to have ignore (or just not see) you.

Relieved to have found his hiding spot, and more than a little bit puzzled, Momo walked into he room he was in. It was a cozy little bedroom in the back part of the division, probably a spare. She was almost instantly worried. All the blinds were drawn, lights were off, everything. It was completely dark, very cold, and he was just sitting there staring at a wall. There was no trace of expression on his face, none of that usual frown that she had come to enjoy so much.

She frowned, as if to make up for lack of his. 'Why is he like this?' The cold she could understand, but dark was never something that suited him.

The answer to her thoughts came from him. It was like he was reading her mind! Only not.

"Momo..."

It was so quiet that Momo almost didn't hear, but after recovering from the initial shock, tears started rolling down her face. She couldn't believe him. She loved him, but what were the chances he loved her back? She still didn't know. Either way, she wanted to be with him, as friends or other, it didn't matter! She found herself beside him, arms wrapped around his thin but muscular frame, sobbing into his shoulder. When the reaction of absolutely nothing came, as she knew that it would, she started sobbing harder.

A couple minutes passed, neither of them doing anything, save for Momo's crying, before she got up, and ran out of the room. Flash stepping past Rangiku and her paperwork, past her former division, past everything until she reached open air and fields, then even farther, until she found the place she spent so much of her early years in Soul Society. In the Rukongai, to her Grandmothers' house, up onto the roof. She did not want to see yet another person who affected so much of her life, but not have them see her. Standing stock still for a second, then flop down onto the roof and curl up into a ball, only to start sobbing again.

* * *

Hours have passed.

Finally calming down enough to come out of her ball, Momo looked down at the tear-stained roof, and her drenched shihakushou. Still sniveling, she sat up and looked around, before noticing that it was sunset. 'Oh', was all she thought as she slowly came out of her haze of misery. There being nothing else to do, she just sat there, thinking, until, with a shake of her head, she decided that not thinking was best. She could already feel tears starting again.

Looking out over the horizon, she determined that it was a very beautiful sunset, but looking at it meant not moving, and not moving was not a good thing. Momo could feel a monster filled with stress and angst welling up inside her, but not sadness. That was currently used up.

The only thing she could think of to get rid of the growling beast inside her was to attack something. Her gaze fixed on an innocent tree across the clearing from her. She smirked in a very un-Momo like way, then slid off of her safe little wood roof and ran at full tilt at the target. Her hand automatically reached down to grip the reassuring shaped of Tobiume's hilt. She approached the target, made to draw her weapon, the tree could almost feel itself hurting...

But she stopped. Tobiume wouldn't come. As a shinigami of vice-captain level abilities, drawing her sword should be instinct. But it wasn't happening. A frown was working onto her face as she reflected that, apparently, her experimenting was lacking, since her sword was sealed and she hadn't known.

The monster was back. With a vengeance. So instead she hit the stupid tree with Shakkahou. Apparently she still had some form of reiatsu.

Suddenly exhausted, and so very disappointed & confused, Momo alighted back onto the roof. The safe one. She again collapsed, but wasn't so weak as to start uncontrollably weeping again. Instead, she looked out past the quaint fence surrounding her old home, into the Rukongai, with it's bustling twilight rush. She just sat there people watching, more at peace with the days discoveries than since she died.

Then something caught her eye. It was simply a human head, like all the others but the hair colour was so familiar, and so unusual...

Until it clicked. If she was in a state of, shall we call it, in-between, why wouldn't another who had died the exact same way be? Namely, one Kurosaki Ichigo, possessing the bright, carrot orange hair that she was now seeing.

She soon caught up to it, as it wasn't going any faster than a normal person running. But it was indeed Ichigo. He had longer legs than her, but she could flash step up to him, and she did, but he didn't notice her. He was too focused on something she didn't know. So she stopped, and went to Plan B, which was to yell in her absolute loudest voice (which admittedly wasn't all that loud, but still),

"Ichigo!" And, just to make sure, "Strawberry!"

It worked. He stopped and turned around, the first person to respond to her since she woke up after that horrid day.

"Who can see me?"

**A/N: I have finally come back! I decided to edit this chapter before working on the new one, and I made some significant changes to the writing, because I was reading it, and it was so bad! So I tried to make it a little better, flow nicer, so, please tell me what you think. How I did. The next chapter should be coming out soon. Review!**


	3. Interlude

An unexplainable circumstance,  
Shared.

A single, one track focus,  
Obsessed.

A being left behind,  
Loved.

A friendship, born of suffering,  
Growing.

A genius, inventor making,  
Curious.

A good Samaritan, hand helping,  
Necessary.

**A/N: I have serious writers block right now. I have the next chapter planned out, but I can't think of how to write it, and Bleach is not really my focus right now. I'd like to put up a small fic or a couple of Shaman King oneshots, so for now this story is on hiatus. I wrote the poem to stick something in there. And a warning, every second chapter I'm thinking of putting in a 'status' poem sort of thing, so if you could just tell me what you think of that idea, that would be awesome. **

**And I will be finishing this story sooner or later.**

**And please don't hate meeee!**

**And reviews will help me get back into it (hint, hint)**

**And there is a nice little button right there to use. - - -  
**


	4. 2: Unwinding Hope

**A/N: I'm back! Took me awhile, but I am. Before I finished off this chapter, I redid the first one, just cause it sucked, but it should (hopefully) be better now. An sorry for the short chapter, I got bored. The next one should be longer. Maybe**

It was morning, the sun was shining, and Ichigo was pacing.

Under the intense twilight of the previous night, an ally had been found in the unfortunate circumstance that he was in: Hinamori Momo. Ichigo didn't know all that much about her, but they had talked in their previous 'lives'. So it was okay.

Last night, they had sat and talked, compared notes, after he fished her out from the suddenly overwhelming flow of traffic that surrounded her. Took him a while to find her, sure, but he did, and was glad to have. She had first of demanded to know why she didn't see him when she was right beside him, and he had simply scratched the back of his neck, looked sheepish and explained, quote, 'I couldn't think of anything better to do, and I was upset'. Momo understood completely.

They agreed that nothing would- if anything was going to- happen if they stayed here, so they decided to head back to Seireitei at first light. Which was why Ichigo was waiting so impatiently. The sun had risen 10 minutes ago, and Momo was nowhere to be seen. They slept in a little alcove, a couple of bushes between them, so he didn't know what to expect when she came out. Whatever it was, it was not what he got.

He had always known her to be a lively, fun, sweet, yet quiet girl, with a mischievous glint in her eyes.

What he saw emerge now was a small, defeated looking shadow of a previous self. He saw just how much she had lost, and when she looked at him, a recognition flickered that told him she saw the same in him. It was a terrifying thought.

Without a word they both decided to just simply turn, and run. Both left at the fastest flash step they could summon, a pace at which they would easily arrive in less than an hour.

The sky had suddenly turned dark and stormy, perfectly reflecting the pairs current feelings. It wasn't long before they saw shinigami, which didn't help said moods, considering the others didn't see them though they were in plain sight. Coming closer, and fully intending to step past as quickly as possible, again by mutual, silent agreement, all changed when they saw who was on the patrol. Ichigo stopped dead, his small companion felt the sudden lack of his momentum by running straight into him. She too stopped, followed his gaze, and frowned in sorrow. It was a division 13 patrol, headed by Captain Ukitake himself, who was closely followed by a listless Rukia Kuchiki. She looked grayer, and you could see how hard she was taking the loss of two dear friends in how she moved, flatly, without her normal bounce, and in her eyes. They had lost their fighting spirit, and that general sparkle that made everyone love her so.

Ichigo took that sighting hard. Much harder than even Momo, who could feel hopeless tears welling up again. Rukia had been one of her closest friends, since Renji had introduced them long ago.

A long time after the patrol disappeared, neither the distraught Strawberry and the faint Peach had moved an inch. Both were completely lost in their thoughts. Mostly sad thoughts. Until Momo had the presence of mind to form a coherent sentence, which she stated after poking Ichigo out of his dormant state. "Ichigo-san, why are we like this?"

His straight reply: "Aizen killed us."

"Yes, but why aren't we in the World of the Living, like we normally would be?" She looked up at him, a puzzled, yet more complete look on her face, since her mind was given something other than misery to ponder.

"Aizen's not normal." He wasn't much in a mood to talk.

A misty eyed look had come over her chocolate doe-eyes. It was sad, and hurt, no doubt recalling the horrors of the Winter War (which she hasn't recovered from, both ways). Expecting another question, but not getting one, Ichigo looked over to see that, pulled out of his own emo corner for the moment. When another question didn't come, he looked over, shaken a little bit out of his trance.

"Momo-san?"

"The hogyoku. I bet that's it..." Strawberry had a hard time hearing that because it was just a breath, barely more.

"What?"

She looked up at him, clearly woken up. "The hogyoku. I think that's the reason we're like this now."

It made sense. His face clearly reflected what he was thinking, which was just that. And then it dropped into a concentrated frown. Then it morphed into a hopeful expression. Momo was actually getting a kick out of watching his expressions. But then he opened his mouth, and the best words Momo had heard all week came out. "Maybe we're not truly dead then. Maybe we can get back!" They were both fully out of their depressed moment now.

Again they exchanged a nod, a set off running, this time determined and much happier. Just to suit the moment, Ichigo decided that it would be great fun to tease his companion.

Glancing at her sideways, then smirking, he casually asked her, "You miss him, don't you?" He was rewarded by her shocked face, sputtering in a flabbergasted expression, then falling as she tripped and rolled. He stopped and waited for her to get up, an amused smirk on his face. Momo got up, took a moment, then her expression changed. Ichigo was a little worried when a crafty grin appeared.

She marched up to him, stood on her tippy-toes, and whispered in his ear,

"Says he who's fallen head-over-heels for a certain friend of mine."

And it was her turn to be rewarded by the incredible array of emotions that crossed his face. Soon, as he was trying to sort his head and gain back some dignity, she was doubled over laughing. Oh how good it felt to have some inter-person contact!

A couple minutes later, both were recovered, and they were able to look at each other without laughing. Again with that telepathy thing that they had going, they looked at each other and decided to continue on. Seireitei was probably the only place that anything would happen, if anything.

* * *

They reached the East Gate of Seireitei just in time for it to slam down in front of the patrol. Then let up, because they had to go through. Momo looked at Ichigo, who looked back, and shrugged, knowing what she was asking.

"It's worth a try." He said, walking forwards as she nodded and followed him.

**A/N: Review!**


	5. 3: Hope Diminished

**A/N: Ah hah! First consecutive day update! Oh yeah! By the way, I was slightly disappointed at how few reviews I got today. Not that I expect much, but still, thank you so much to hikaruryu13! And last chapter I forgot to thank the people who reviewed, so I will do that now:**

**Thanks, chococat450, lil-Frosted-dragon11, xcardmistressx, and Emikosakura27! Appreciate it a lot!**

**And finally, forgot to do disclaimer as well: I do not own anything that I did not create. Like the characters. Or the whole universe of Bleach in general. So it's not mine. **

The gates simply swished around them like they were nothing. Like walking through water. Through nothing. At the same time.

Momo cracked one of her tightly closed eyelids and saw that she was back in Seireitei, where she had spent most of her time, other than her grandmothers house in Rukongai. So she knew exactly where she was, right outside the 13th division courtyard. Right now, though, she wasn't sure if this was a good place to be. Beside her, Ichigo was shivering involuntarily, probably for both things.

"Well, that hasn't happened before." He deadpanned. Momo just nodded, as she checked her clothing for anything. Anything at all. She still wasn't sure what to make of the fact the gate had let them through like they were nothing.

Finishing, and concluding nothing was amiss, she looked up to see an orange head bent over, looking at his feet. Bent over he was about as tall as her shoulder. Her mouth was open, about to say something aloung the lines of 'We should move.' or perhaps 'Where should we go?' (more likely), but it closed. She couldn't help it. She giggled.

"Jeez, I see what Rukia likes about you. You're so..."

"What!" Ichigo's head shot up, staring at her like she was either crazy or the best thing in the world. Doubling over for the umpteenth time that day, she burst out laughing. Again.

"Funny!" Momo choked out. He just looked at her.

Then: "We should move." He was looking kind of disgruntled but mostly determined. Apparently he had recognized where they were. Understanding, Momo swallowed her laughter and was about to move when the obvious hit her flat in the forehead.

"Where should we go?"

"I dunno. Maybe Gramps could sense us or something." He looked at her, shrugging. She just looked back. That telepathy thing was at work again, because at the exact same time, they set off again toward the 1st division. Of course, they happened to come in at the exact opposite end of Seireitei from there, so they had a long way to go. And a lot of people to pass.

* * *

Eventually they reached the ginormous doors that they were looking for. Momo stopped and just looked at them for a second, looking far off into the distance (read: door). She looked a bit hurt, but shook it out and stepped up, opening the door for herself and Ichigo.

They entered into the hall that leads to all the offices and other things, and immediately were assaulted by the noise. It was a huge space, and the door that lead to the place they needed to go was directly in front of them, at the other end of the hall. You could see it from a mile away, because the doors were as high as the very high ceiling. Momo looked at Ichigo smugly.

"Have you been in here before?"

"Yes, but it's never been so... alive," He replied, shaking his awestruck head. It was true that it was really busy, but it was nothing Momo hadn't seen before. After all, this was the center of operations for all of Seireitei.

They waded through the crowd, which was made a thousand times harder due to the fact no one could see or feel them pushing their way through. Looking around, they passed Gin (who had recovered and been relieved of all charges against him, then put back on active duty as captain of the 3rd), Nanao, and Shuuhei, the latter two carrying massive stacks of paperwork, the former looking late for something. Momo saw the same Shuuhei glance at Nanao, who was obviously -purposely- ignoring him. And blushing ever so slightly. It made Momo's heart lift to see that, since both of them were her close friends. Although, most people were her close friends. But still.

They passed them soon enough, having finally gotten to a place where the current of people seemed to be flowing towards where they wanted to go. Ichigo had grabbed the back of Momo's shihakushou, and was holding on for dear life, because she was smaller and therefore having a much easier time getting around.

Finally they reached the door, both looking slightly worse for wear. Even though no one would notice if they changed something in the 'living' world, the people could apparently change them. For example, Momo's hair was coming out of it's bun, so little shoulder length pieces were falling out at random. And Ichigo's shihakushou was almost completely off one shoulder. He shrugged it back up, and looked at her. She nodded, and together they pushed on the ceiling height door.

It was heavy, they discovered.

And when they were finally able to open it, they slid in quickly before letting it shut with a resounding _BAM! _Right where Ichigo had been. Then they noticed it was really quiet, except the sound of the door bouncing off the walls. Turning around slowly, Momo looked over her shoulder to see just what was up. She was expecting the Captain Commander to be screaming at someone. Instead, she saw all the captains. In their rows. Looking right at them.

Only they weren't. They were looking at the door behind them.

"Did you guys hear something? I could have sworn the door was closed before. So it couldn't have closed again." Kyoraku Shunsui asked, breaking the tense silence. Most of the captains nodded and looked back to the center. Some yawned, but others looked around.

Three were still watching the door like it was their prey. First, the Captain Commander was staring at the door with a concentrated look on his wrinkly, wise, frowning face. Also, Kurotsuchi Mayuri was, a scarily excited look on his (usually scary) face. Finally, with the most concentrated look, was Hitsugaya Toshiro. He was staring at the poor door, right behind where Momo was standing frozen beside Ichigo, so very intently that Momo felt like he actually could see her. Then he turned away, blinking a couple times to get rid of what looked uncannily like tears.

It was all Momo could do to not break down again, right there. The meeting had commenced again, just talking about some random thing that neither Ichigo nor Momo cared about. Ichigo was watching Kurotsuchi, then Yamamoto, then back again. Something was on his mind, which she was about to ask about, but didn't. Because he answered for her.

"Don't you think that something was up just now? I mean, there was a huge rise in Gramps reiatsu, like he was searching for something, and Kurotsuchi just looked, well, happy." He then shuddered and turned back to Momo. She was kneeling on the floor, shaking, and blinking a thousand times a minute. Knowing what she was thinking about, Ichigo choose not to mention the third captain who knew about something, but instead wrapped his hand around her arm gently and pulled her up. Not unkindly, he said "We should go. I feel weird watching them in all their secretiveness."

Momo nodded and tried to steady herself on the wall as Ichigo let go of her and worked on the door again. It came slightly easier this time, like it had been loosened up somewhat by it's previous opening. Neither of the two cared. They just wanted out into the fresh air.

* * *

Coming out of the door of the 1st division, after once again struggling through the crowded front hall, Ichigo stopped and sank to his knees. He had had to carry Momo above his head most of the time, because she was in a near comatose state -still. He let her down and thanked the heavens for how light she was.

He was a bit surprised when she didn't collapse there and then, and start sobbing. She looked like she wanted to. Instead, she just stood there and asked, "What should we do now? The Captain Commander obviously can't sense us.", in a small voice. Shaking his head, Ichigo replied that he didn't know, then he noticed a bright light from one of the roof tops that the Senkaimon opened on. An idea struck him.

"Why don't we go up there, and see if we can get to the World of the Living? Might have better luck there." He said, pointing.

**A/N: Felt like putting up a little bit of a crack pairing in there. Usually i like ShunsuixNanao, but this one just seemed so right for the story I couldn't resist. There is a touch of vague foreshadowing in there, but not much, so we shall see! And I have this great scene planned for the next chapter, so be excited, people! I am really looking forwards to writing it! But since I was disappointed in you all this time, I am not going to post the next chapter until I have five reviews for this one. Even if that takes months. So there. Review! Please!  
**


	6. 4: Diminished Sight

**A/N: Okay, so I'm sorry for how witchy I was last chapter. Bad mood. Anyway, this is a longer than most chapter, so I hope to be redeemed. The story is getting somewhere now, we're actually about a third through, already! Wow. I have never actually gotten this far into a story! That wasn't like, a page long. Sweet! Anyway, hope you like it.**

**And thank you to chococat450 & toshiko-san21 for reveiwing! I love you soooo much!**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. I simply love writing stories about characters I love.**

They reached the rooftop just in time to see the majestic shining gates close, leaving those who just crossed through into Seireitei stranded. And those who were trying to get out more stranded.

Momo had ran right up to the door, almost making it through before it closed. Then she noticed that Ichigo was not beside her, and she had absolutely no desire to go alone. Turning back around, she tried to locate her lost companion, and did. But at the same time she noticed who was on the roof with them.

The group who came through the Senkaimon included: a cat. A black one, in particular, who Momo instantly knew to be Yoruichi. Behind the cat was a very tall, dark, and built guy, and a much slenderer, shorter, severe looking one.

From behind them came a girl with long auburn hair, who immediately started to weep and ran from behind her companions straight into the arms of the waiting Rukia.

Ichigo was standing behind a short, meek looking man that Momo recognized from the 4th division, who was also a part of the melancholy welcoming committee.

She flash stepped over to Ichigo, and just stood beside him as they watched Rukia start to shed tears as well, until both the girls were sobbing into each other. Knowing the stubborn little Rukia, this was probably the first time she had allowed herself to cry over him, Momo thought.

She looked over at Ichigo, who was watching the scene with dull eyes that were at the same time sparkling with wetness. He was in so much pain, and watching what was happening here, with two girls who were crying over him, would be so hard. Momo was reminded of when she found Toshiro in the dark room behind his office.

She knew how it felt to have to watch a loved one mourn you. And make no mistake, these girls were crying for him. She knew and loved both Orihime and Rukia like sisters, but this was all about Ichigo. Which was why she determined that it was time to take him elsewhere. They still had to find a way to get themselves into the World of the Living.

With a glance back at the two boys who had come over to the girls, the skinny one wrapping his arms around Orihime, she grabbed Ichigo's arm and pulled gently.

No reaction.

So she tugged as hard as she possibly could, using all her considerable strength for her size, and jumped off the roof, dragging him behind her.

* * *

"Ichigo? Ichigo. I know it hurts, but we have to keep going. I am really not one to talk, but we do. Come on. Lets go. They won't be here forever. So we'll catch whatever Senkaimon opens until then. Okay? Let's just go. We can do it. It hurts, but if we ever want to stop the hurting, get back, we have to go. Do something. Anything."

* * *

They were in a little cave, right below the Sokyouku, ironically. Ichigo was sitting, fighting an inner battle of whether to sink into a deep depression or get out and accept that Hinamori was right. They needed to do something.

Hinamori, on the other hand, was sitting with her knees up in front of her, and contemplating. Yes, she decided, she was sad, but she wasn't about to go catatonic either. She was trying to gather up her facts, and see if there were any other ways to get to the World of the Living that they could use. She knew they wouldn't be able to go through the nice easy way since they obviously couldn't get a hell butterfly, but they might be able to slip past the people in the next one that opens. Problem was, they didn't know when that would be. Orihime and Yoruichi and company were obviously going to go through after Ichigo's funeral, but when would that be?

She hadn't mentioned the whole funeral thing to him, knowing it would make it even worse then he was, but it was true. Her funeral had taken place only four days ago. She had sat around moping for a whole day after. Which was why if they got to the World of the Living before his, it would make everything that much easier.

'Life' was made easier very quickly after that.

As it turned out, Ichigo's family was coming into Soul Society for the funeral as well, so shortly after Ichigo won the battle with himself and told Momo he was ready to move, another Senkaimon opened up. They were waiting for it this time, having on a hunch decided to go back to the gates.

Within moments they were flash stepping through, but not fast enough to avoid seeing who it was. Again, Ichigo almost stopped, but Momo dragged him through, and they were running away from the sweeper before he had time to really put up a fight.

Then they were stepping through the gate into the World of the Living, a place Momo had never really been much. They ended up right outside of Urahara Shouten, and quickly ran away because neither really wanted to do all that much anymore. Both were tired, and it was almost nighttime anyway. So they went to find a random place to stay. In the end,they broke into Orihime's house, since they knew where it was, but neither were too emotionally attached to break down there and then.

They slept in the living room. They slept.

* * *

One week later

Momo got up quietly, trying not to wake Ichigo. She looked around quickly, then slipped out the door of Orihime's apartment, where they had continued residence. None of the people who had gone to Soul Society had come back yet, so for now they were fine, but both her & Ichigo knew that that was liable to change quickly. Neither was really looking forwards to when Orihime came back.

Running down the street at five o'clock in the morning was something Momo had taken a liking to. It made her feel somewhat free, breezing past everyone and everything, like there was absolutely nothing wrong in the world. Yes, she was alone, and that wasn't always a good thing, but thankfully she had Ichigo to keep her somewhat occupied. Now, though, it was just like in her old days, before the Winter War, when she would go out to the wilderness and just walk. Listen to the trees and the branches sway, the birds chirp. It always kept her calm.

Like it was doing now, as she made her merry way down the street to the Urahara Shouten. She had taken to coming here in the mornings, just to check if anything had changed. Usually it didn't, but... it never hurts to make sure.

Momo was walking around the perimeter of the building, wondering if there was a way onto the roof (she had discovered a liking for those), when she heard a sound. Not just any sound either, but a sound like huge door s opening. It was all too familiar to her, but just to make sure, she ran around front and stopped, just by the corner of the shop. Sure enough, Senkaimon was opening, and everyone who had gone through came out running, landing in a panting heap at the foot of the towering gates.

"Now, who's fault was it that the sweeper was that close?" Yelled an irate skinny-one (Momo had yet to learn his name).

No one immediately answered, but everyone was looking around expectantly, heads swinging from side to side in unison. Orihime picked up on it first, that Ichigo would normally be the one who would answer with an equally irate comment, and they would probably start a fistfight. Then she would be the mediator. She sighed, her head dropping down. They all missed the fiery carrot-top.

Coming back to herself, Momo figured out that this would mean they needed to evacuate Orihime's apartment. After watching them all dust themselves off for a moment more, she set off a a brisk trot, wanting to bet there long before they were, but not put in too much effort.

However, she stopped dead when, as she passed them, Yuzu's shy voice rang out.

"Hey! Did you guys see that? Something just ran by us!" Momo just stood there for a second, before she turned around, shocked.

"What?" She said to herself. Granted, it could of been quieter for a 'to herself' comment, but she had learned not to care.

"I saw it again! It said something!"

At this point, Momo was having an experience similar to when you see a shadow, and you strike a pose, then find out it's yours. She moved closer, watching as the rest of the group squinted in all directions. Yuzu was looking almost directly at her, a adorably confuzzled look own her face. By now, Jinta, Ururu, Tessai, and Urahara himself had come out of the shop to see what the matter was. Momo decided it would be a good time to say something.

"Um, hi! I'm amazed you can see me! If you can." she added. Then, after a moment started waving.

"It's here again! Right in front of me! It even said words!"

"What did it say, miss?" Urahara sidled up to her and leaned over her shoulder in a rather creepy manner, fan in front of face. Jinta was fuming in the background.

"I didn't here everything, but I heard 'amazed you can' and 'you can'. Momo sighed. That was kind of selective.

Just then, she noticed Karin beside her, staring hard at an area that was about her neck. She turned to her, still waving.

"I saw it!" Both the twins yelled immediately, simultaneously.

Through this instance, Tessai had disappeared. Now he came back, appearing beside Urahara and handing him a bottle. Urahara removed the fan and grinned.

"Well, since apparently we have a strange ghost that these girls can see, why don't we try enhancing their vision?" He said, holding up the bottle in front of their faces, so extremely close to Momo. She noticed it was very dusty, yet it still had little sparkles around it. Weird.

"NOOOOOOOO! You will not feed my daughters some poison!" Guess who.

"We may have an important discovery here, though."

Karin and Yuzu were still staring hard at Momo, like they could see her, just really blurry. Karin looked up at the two males standing behind her. Her eyes were kind of distant, and hopeful.

"Let's give it a try." She said, turning back to the approximate location of the 'spectre'.

**A/N: Review!**


	7. 5: Sight Incredible

**A/N: I redid this a little, not to many edits.**

**I own nothing.**

Isshin Kurosaki froze. He was in the middle of an argument but, his daughter, whose decision clearly shocked him, had vetoed him and gone to the dark side!

At least this is what Momo thought happened.

She watched as the father looked at his daughter, clearly ready to collapse in a heap and bawl. As he was, something flashed between them and he stopped. He stood up, and said 'okay', like there had been absolutely none of his antics.

So the group had retreated into the shop with a clear "Spectrrreeee! If you want to, follow us in! You're perrrrfectly safe!" from Urahara. She was a little bit scared of the strange glint in his eyes when he said 'safe', but this was too good an opportunity to pass up. What if those girls really could see her? Then she and Ichigo would be able to get help out, and her life could turn back to normal.

And speaking of Ichigo, he would be wondering where she was. She really hoped he didn't come here. If this didn't work, and he found out, he would be even more devastated than before, and Ichigo had had enough. They both had. And she was pretty sure any disastrous occurrence- or lack thereof-would be easier to handle if she didn't have to worry about him too.

She followed them in.

When she found them, they were all sitting around a table in the back, Yuzu & Karin each watching the glass of brown goo in front of them suspiciously. Or at least Karin was suspicious, Yuzu looked like she would cry if she drank it. Their father was watching that bit none too happily, but he was calm.

Urahara was busy explaining exactly what it was (Momo was glad she wasn't in their position, let's put it that way), what it supposedly did (too much science talk for Momo), and what they should expect after drinking it (If the spectre had decided to come in, they should see a shape materialize slowly, and eventually become as clear as the people around them).

It took a while, so Momo had taken a seat squeezed in between Orihime, who was directly across from the twins, and Chad, so as to be easy for them to see if it did work. She really wanted it to.

"Okay. So can we drink the stuff now?" Karin asked, getting a bit impatient. Urahara looked at her, having just finished his rant. He nodded.

"Whenever you're ready."

Both girls immediately grabbed the cups and drank the contents as quickly as possible, wanting it over with. They both surfaced 5 seconds later, hacking and coughing with their eyes shut, before sitting up and looking around.

Momo waited anxiously along with everyone else in the room, who were all leaning forwards in anticipation. All were watching closely as Karin surveyed every inch of the room, with Yuzu looking hard at all the people.

Beside her, Orihime was looking around nervously, shifting her weight incessantly. Momo had to admit, even for these people, who were all very familiar with ghosts and invisible beings, this was kind of creepy. Eventually Skinny-one wrapped his arm around her and pulled her into his side, where she calmed down. Sincerely thanking the guy in her head, Momo looked back at the twins.

Karin's stare was on the back wall, and completely blank. Yuzu had her eyes closed. Both looked like they were waiting for something inside them to stop.

Jinta, of course, was the first to break the overall silence in the room, by getting up from his seat halfway around the table from Momo and walking over to Karin, waving his hand in front of her face viciously.

"Yo, you there? It's been like, 5 minutes."

"It has?" A smaller voice asked, from beside him. Jinta jerked his hand away. "I feel really weird. Like something inside me is trying to find a place."

"Ah, that's normal, Miss Yuzu. Try opening your eyes, and see what you see." Urahara chimed. In response, both twins jerked up a bit, and sat there blinking for a minute or so, obviously not seeing anything in particular.

Momo sat forwards, and decided to try talking and moving, to help them out a bit.

"Hello? Can you hear me better now?" She said, to them.

Karin snapped her gaze over to her.

"I just heard it talk. And I can see an outline. Right between Orihime and Chad." Both looked between them, then at each other.

Yuzu leaned forwards, her eyes apparently adjusting better.

"Um, Spectre-san? What is your name? I don't know what to call you. You look like a girl right? With hair in a bun?"

Momo nodded, thinking that she couldn't see she was a shinigami yet.

"My name is Momo. I know all you people."

Both girls eyes widened.

"You know us?" Karin asked, astonished.

"Wait, what?" Urahara interrupted. "What did she say?"

Yuzu replied, turning to him. "She says that she knows us."

"But what was her name?"

"Momo-san."

Every single person, but for the clueless twins and Momo, froze in shock.

"Mo-mo?" Orihime whispered, "Hinamori Momo?"

The twins looked to Momo, whose face they could now see.

She nodded then said, "Yes. That is my name. I was the fifth division lieutenant, Hinamori Momo."

They gaped at her, and everyone else in the room looked at the spot they thought she might be. It was terribly unnerving.

"Karin? What did she say?" Jinta asked.

"She said... she said yes. That's her name. She says she was the fifth division lieutenant in Soul Society."

Silence.

Orihime burst into tears again, then turned to the spot she was and smiled, shock and awe, yet extreme happiness radiating from her in extreme amounts.

"Are you alright?"

"What happened?"

"Momo! I'm so happy!"

"How did you get here?"

Everyone had given up on asking her through Karin or Yuzu. Questions bombarded her from every side. She quickly stood up, and jumped across the table to right in between Yuzu and Karin. They looked at her, startled, but everyone else was still yelling at the spot where she had vacated. It was kind of funny, to the twins. They had to work not to laugh.

"Can you please ask them to be quiet? They're kind of scaring me." Momo asked her bodyguards.

Karin nodded a then let out a ear-killing whistle.

"Hey, people. You're scaring her. She came over here," Pointing to Momo.

All stopped, then turned slowly.

"Hey, I can see all of you now!" Yuzu exclaimed to Momo. Momo smiled at her sweetly.

Karin was still acting as the manager. "Okay. Now one at a time, and maybe we'll actually get somewhere."

Urahara looked pointedly at Momo. "I'll start. Hinamori-san, could you please explain why you are sitting here before us, instead of being dead?"

With Karin & Yuzu translating, Momo told them the whole story, except the parts about Ichigo. If she had any mischief left, she would make this work.

It was kind of sad, because the further she got in, she could see practically everyone deflating when he was not mentioned. But she persisted. It would be worth it later.

Ichigo, meanwhile, was completely oblivious that all this was happening. He was busy pacing, since it had been hours since Hinamori left, and he was getting kind of worried. What if some weird, halfway-in-between-eating-hollow had taken her by surprise and eaten her, since she couldn't use her sword? Neither of them could. But still. It would suck if his only companion got eaten.

"ICHIGO!" Nearly jumping out of his skin, he turned around. There she was, leaning against Orihime's door frame, huffing and puffing like she was being chased. "We have to go! Now! Come! Quick!" He didn't get what she was so excited about. There really wasn't much worth being excited about anymore, and it was really out of character for her. His confusion must have shown, so he hesitated slightly.

His mistake, though, because when she saw him hesitate, she got more agitated then he had ever seen her, and therefore jumped up to him, grabbed the back his shihakushou collar, and dragged him out, yelling something about "You'll be glad! It's so wonderful!"

Back at Urahara Shouten, everyone was basically in the same position as before. They were pondering and talking quietly about what Hinamori had said. Once she had finished her explanation, she had jumped up, according to Karin, after telling them she was going to go get her companion.

At this point, they weren't sure if she was talking about a person or a rock or a hollow, because she had absolutely refused to talk about this mystery person, only talking about herself, and her story. About 10 minutes after she left, though, Yuzu reported hearing some banging around in the shop, so they all went out to investigate.

Momo was wrenching the door open, dragging behind her...

"No. Way." Karin said, jaw dropping. Everyone looked at her worriedly, and Yuzu, who was on her knees, hands over mouth.

"What is it?" Orihime asked, touching their shoulders. They just kept staring, before, Yuzu worked herself up to her feet, stumbling around a bit, before rushing forwards and screaming, "BROTHER!"

Ichigo's head whipped around, forgetting his struggling at being dragged into the cursed place, to see his sisters running towards him, arms held out. Yuzu was crying. He held out his arms too, and, miracle of all miracles, they didn't just pass through him. They could hug him. He hugged the girls like he had died. Which, pretty much, he had.

Momo just stood back, smiling to herself, watching the heartwarming scene in front of her. Even Karin was sobbing her eyes out, into her brothers shirt.

The people behind her, however, didn't know what to think. They had heard Yuzu scream 'brother', and now both sisters were sobbing into someone who they couldn't see.

That left very little room for choices.

"Could it really be?" Orihime whispered, wonderingly.

Karin detached herself from the blank space, and looked at them.

"It is!" She smiled, probably a first and last from Karin (crying while smiling. Or just crying).

Yuzu was still sobbing, meanwhile, and while Ichigo looked fondly, and amazed at them, he started to wonder what the heck was happening. For this, he turned to Momo. He didn't even need to ask the question.

"I came over here earlier, just as they were arriving home. Yuzu saw something, then Karin did, and it turned out to be me, and Urahara gave some enhancer thing, so now they can see us and hear us. I didn't tell them about you."

He just nodded, figuring out why she had been so excited. "Thank you." He whispered. Momo couldn't believe it, it was so out of character for him. She just stared.

**A/N: This is the story I decided caught my fancy for a little while, so expect a new chapter soon!**


	8. LetDown Notice

Hey people! So, I absolutely hate it when people do this (Author's Note chapter), especially to say what I am going to, but I feel that I have very little choice. So here's my list of excuses:

School.

I feel that this site is taking over my life and I don't like it.

My message is that I am trying to quit the majority of my time spent on (I feel like an addict). Therefore, since I have quite a few stories going, none of which I have finished or even updated in a while, I have decided to finish one of them. I don't care which one. So, what I'm asking my readers, which I know I don't have many of, or even if you all care enough to respond. But please go to my profile and choose which story you would like me to finish. I'll put up a poll.

I'm so, so sorry because I feel like a terrible let-down. But I also think I need to do this so please don't hate me. Maybe, someday, in a long time, I'll start over but I don't think so right now. Thank you for your support.


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